Traditional bingo is played in a large hall or room by two or more people. In some bingo games, bingo players pay an entrance fee to enter the hall or room and play a session of bingo. In other bingo games, players purchase one or more bingo cards to play during a session of bingo. A session of bingo may be one or more bingo games. A session of bingo usually consists of many bingo games played sequentially. Each bingo game results in a single winner from a multitude of players. Multiple wins can alternatively be provided in a bingo game (e.g., for a first win such as a single line, a second win such as four corners, and a third win such as a full card).
In a conventional bingo game played using a conventional bingo card, there are seventy-five possible bingo numbers including: B1-B15, I16-I30, N31-N45, G46-G60 and O61-O75. In a conventional live bingo, each of those numbers is represented by a ball in a large rotating bin. Each ball has a
unique one of the bingo numbers. The bin is rotated and one of the balls is randomly selected. The number of the selected ball is announced (and sometimes displayed) to the players. The players check each of their bingo cards to see if the announced number appears on the card. If the number appears on a card, the player marks (or daubs) the card using an item such as a bingo marker. In a conventional bingo game, when a player achieves a designated winning combination or pattern such as five marked spots in a row, in a column or diagonally, or other designated combination, the player has achieved “bingo” and wins the game if the player is the first person to achieve such combination. This is often done by the person calling out “Bingo.”
There are many different types of bingo games. In one type of bingo game, all of the numbers are drawn for the game before any players view the arrangement of numbers on their bingo cards. The award is a predetermined amount. After the draw occurs, the players may purchase cards and compare the arrangements on the cards to the drawn numbers to determine whether one or more game-winning or other predetermined patterns are matched. The play continues until at least one of the players matches a designated game-winning outcome. When one of the players matches the designated game-winning outcome, the player wins the predetermined amount.
In live bingo, the player's winning card is verified. If the player has indeed won, a new game is played unless there are additional wins for that bingo game. The above-described live game has also been implemented in electronic gaming machines, which enable the player to play a virtual card instead of a physical bingo card. In such electronic bingo games, the player is playing against another player at another gaming machine. In either case, the game of bingo proceeds until someone wins.
With bingo, each card can eventually be a winner. Even if only two players are playing a given game of bingo, one of those players will eventually win. The player's chances of winning change depending on the number of cards (physical or virtual) that the player plays (i.e., the more bingo cards played, the higher the chance of winning). The odds also depend on the total number of virtual or real cards that exist. For example, if the player plays 10 cards at once out of a total of 1,000 cards, the player's chances of winning are 1 in 100 (assuming each of the remaining 990 cards is also being played).
Bingo is relatively simple to learn to play. While Nevada-style wagering games, such as slot or poker, require a Class III license, bingo is considered a Class II wagering game, which allows bingo to be played in a variety of places in the United States where Class III gaming is prohibited. Moreover, in certain jurisdictions, a Class II gaming establishment must offer a bingo game to be able to provide pull-tab games which have sometimes been called central determination system games.
It is desirable to provide new and different bingo games.